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Voodoo - Vodou
Veve: The Signatures of the Lwa In Haitian Vodou, every lwa - every spirit served in the tradition - has oneemblem and one only. It is called a veve. Before a ceremony, an oungan or a manbo traces it on the earthen floor of the peristyle in cornmeal and wood ash, and the spirit is invited to descend through it. Because no two lwa share a veve, thesymbol works as a name. Learning to read them is learning who is being called. The veves below are hand-cut from recycled steel oil drums in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti, a metalworking tradition passed down since the 1950s. The drum is burned out, cut open and flattened into a metal canvas, and every line is then cut by hand with a hammer and chisel. No two pieces are identical. How to Read the Ones You Will Find Here Erzulie Freda - the lwa of love, beauty and luxury, and a great power as a lover. Also known for her jealousy and her unpredictable nature. Her veve is built on the heart, whole and unbroken. She wears three wedding rings and is offered perfume, jewelry and sweet liqueurs. Her colors are pink, blue, white and gold. Erzulie Dantor - Freda's sister, and revered as a fierce and loving mother figure, the protector of women and children. Her veve is also a heart, but hers is pierced by a knife. That blade is how you tell the two apart. Ogou - the warrior lwa: iron, fire, politics and protection. His veve is builtfrom swords, and their arrangement names which Ogou is called - crossed for Ogou Feray, intertwined for Ogou Badagri. There is a fitness in cutting his veve from steel, since iron is his own material. Baron Samedi - Bawon Samdi, lwa of the dead and head of the Gede family of spirits. His veve carries the cross of the cemetery, the kwa Bawon that stands in every Haitian graveyard, and a skull for his dominion over the dead. His day is November 2.Papa Legba - the gatekeeper, who stands at the crossroads and grants or denies passage between the living and the spirits. His veve carries a cane and keys. He is greeted first in every ceremony and released last. Damballa - Danbala Wedo, the serpent lwa and one of the oldest spirits in the pantheon. The skyfather, said to have made the stars with his seven thousand coils. He does not speak; he whistles. He is offered white foods, above all eggs, and his veve is read through its serpentine line. Bossou - the sacred bull, read through his three horns. The lwa of immense power,fertility and change, not approached lightly. Vodou is a living religion, not a costume. These pieces are made by Haitian artists who serve the spirits they are cutting, and we sell them as what they are.